It’s been more than a week since researchers felt the sun on their shoulders or could walk freely without strapped air packs and 30-pound boots. Radio communications have been shaky, and repair work takes up most of their time.
This is life on Mars for six people. Or as close as it can get for now. While NASA robots probe the Red Planet in discovery missions, researchers are actually living the work in a remote section of the Utah desert. The Mars Desert Research Station is one of two living laboratories operated by the Mars Society, an organization dedicated to Mars exploration. The society’s other operating habitat is in an equally remote section of Canada. Another is planned for Iceland, and more could be in the works.